Thinking About Temptation.

I don’t see temptation as a particularly bad thing… but before you go jumping to conclusions about what I mean with this, let me explain. Temptation is the urge or desire to do something, more often than not it is connoted negatively but let us take a moment to assess it. I think temptation runs deeper than just an impulsive emotion that you feel, I think if you’re willing to really consider the reason why you feel tempted and evaluate your standpoint appropriately then you can learn a lot from the emotion of temptation.

Let’s put this in practice and give an example so you can understand what I mean and how I view temptation;

So you’ve just had dinner, you’re quite full and content but you’re very tempted to order a dessert (this happens to me all the time, we’re all on the same boat here). Your sudden urge is tempting you to just go ahead and order it; so let’s delve into a more sound evaluation of this current struggle of ordering dessert.

You know that you’re full and you’re gonna struggle to stomach a dessert, and if you do finish the dessert then you will be so full that you’re gonna hit ‘food coma’ from 0 to 100. But, if you don’t have it then your sweet tooth is going to call and call on you to give in. So, do you give in and just accept the fact you’re going to have to deal with the consequences? Do you ignore it and power through in hope that it goes before you can’t resist anymore? Or do you find a compromise to buy a dessert on your way home when you’re less full (obviously having to sacrifice time and effort to get it from somewhere else, which could perhaps not be as nice or it could be even better, who really knows.. unless you try both).

I think this example can be interpreted in more depth rather than just dessert of course but if you’re willing to be open to the way you perceive temptation, it can teach you a lot about yourself and your current situation; are you tempted because the situation you’re in isn’t ideal or right for you? Are you tempted because you’re not willing to compromise and perhaps being over greedy and unappreciative of things? It could be millions of different reasons but it definitely elicits key things to yourself that only you will know, hopefully knowing these things will be able to help you make a better informed decision or help you understand yourself a little better and know where you should go from that moment on; think carefully.. The decision for dessert is an important one.